David m



(No Model.)

I). M. MEPPORD. PIE PLANT CUTTING MACHINE.

No. 545,432. Patented Aug. 27,1895.

INVENTOH 02/ WITNESSES:

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DAVID M. MEFFORD, OFTOLEDO, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO FRANK .V. CHAMBER- V LAIN, OF SAME PLACE.

PlE-PLANT-CUTTlNG MACHINE.

$PECIF1GATION forming part of Letters Patent No. d5,4=32, dated August 2'7, 1895.

Application and July 23,1894.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, DAVID M. MEFFORD, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of Toledo, county of Lucas, and State of 5 Ohio, have invented a new and useful Pie- Plant-Gutting Machine, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in pie-plant-cutting machines, in which a single [0 long straight knife is employed which is not worked automatically,instead of the curving knives afiixed to rollers or cylinders working automatically, as in the case of hay and straw cutting machines; and the objects of my improvements are, first, to provide for certain and positive movement of all the pieplant in the box of the machine; second, to secure this movementin intervals of absolute uniformity, so that the pie-plant can be cut in equal lengths. I attain these objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is an elevated vertical section of the entire machine. Fig. 2 is a'vertical elevation of the front face of the machine as it appears in the operation of cutting or slicing the pie-plant or rhubarb.

Similarletters refer to similar parts throughout the views.

The box A, which in Fig. 1 has one of its side boards cut or brokenaway, so as to show its interior arrangement, consists of side boards and bottom. The side boards are held together by means of sections of short boards 3 5 a a, to which they are nailed or secured, and

in the intervals between the ends of these short bottom boards, and in line therewith, and journaled into the side boards, are the ant-ifriction or carrying rollers BB, and driv- 4o ing-rollers B at the front end, though not shown in the drawings, except the end of its journal, to which the ratchet-wheel E is secured.

The belt 0 is one of the main features of 5 the invention. It consists of rubber-covered textile fabric, known as packing, and being impervious to water it will not swell or shrink, and should be thick enough for strength and durability. It should be about as wide as the inside of the box at the bottom.

Serial No. 518,877. (No model.)

Across its face or exposed surface are riveted narrow cleats c c a, about live or six inches apart. These are preferably made of thin sheet metal, bent longitudinally in the shape of angle-iron. When riveted to the belt, an edge about oneeighth of an inch high rises above the face or surface of the belt. This device prevents the belt from slipping under the pie-plant, and insures its forward move ment with the belt. The belt c -should be held taut by the rollers B and B", so as to insure its movement with no lost motion of the driving-roller B. In order to accomplish this the journals of B" should have their hearings in movable blocks, sliding in grooves 6 5 or ways, which can be forced out rearward by the keys I), so that any desired tautness can be given to the belt G.

The mechanism which propels the drivingroller 33' is situated on a board D, which is secured to the right-hand side board of the box in Fig. 1, and consists of a ratchet-wheel E, pawl F, and lever G. The lever is pivoted at its lower end to the board, and the pawl F is pivoted at its lower end to the lever G. They both have guards over them to steady their movements and limit the space properly. through which they can move correspondingly with the teeth of the ratchet-wheel.

The knife H, more plainly shown in Fig. 2, 8c is pivoted to its arm I at its lower end, and the other end of the arm is pivoted to the frame of the machine.

The guard J has a slot between it and the frame of the machine, in which the arm I is confined, holding it and the knife H to the face of the machine, so as to cut off all the pie-plant that protrudes beyond the face of the machine at each stroke. The dotted lines in Fig. 2 show the position of the knife when raised to make a shear or cut. The plain lines show the position of the knife after the out is made. The left hand handles the lever G, the right hand the knife H, and the hands thus working alternately cannot failin doing 9 5 first-class work, even when operated by an inexperienced employ, as by the arrangement of parts he is enabled to easily control at will both the feed and the cut.

Having fully described myinvention, what roe I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patwhereby he is enabled to operate and control ent of the United States, is both the feed and the cut.

The combination of the feed box A, roller B B, cleated belt 0, ratchet Wheel D, the DAVID M. MEFFORD. 5 hand lever G, the pawl F, and the hand oper- WVitnesses:

ated knife H; the lever G, and the knife H HARRIET E. DELUDE,

being both within reach of a single operator CAIUS K, SOUTHARD. 

